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A ■. 

LETTER 

FROM^THE 

* HON. TIMOTHY PICKERING, 

A SENAfon OF fHE UNI f ED STAGES, .J 

• FROM THE """' 

STATE OF MASSACHUSETTS, 

\ • EXHIBITING TO HIS CONSTITUENT^, * 

A VIEW OFTHE IMMINENl^ DANGERv 

OF AN 

WNNECESSARY AND RUINOUS WAR, 

ADDRESSED TO 

HIS EXCELLENCY JAMES SULLIVAN, 

COVEBJfOn <W THE SAID STAfS, 
TO WHICH IS ADDED, 

GOVERNOR SULLIVAN'S ANS »VE;R. 



fIRST HARTFORD) FROM THE SECOND BOSTON EDITION' 

L^m, - r , 

HjIRTFORD: 
PRINTED BY LINCOLN AND GLEASON. 



^ 



ET 3^7 



P$T] 



TO THE REJDr.fi. 

THE folio-wing is a public Letter. It is \ cry properly addressed X»^ 
tlie Governor, and througli him to the Legislature : by this channel it 
would have come most regularly to the eye of the whole people. It is 
not known to the publishers why it has not been already printed for the 
use of the j^ublic ; — whether it is only delayed, or intended to be entirely- 
withheld. But a copy, which was sent from Washington, after the ori- 
ginal, to a private friend, has been happily obtained for the press. 

If at tliis day any honest citizen can doubt of the great credit and 
weight to which the facts and oiMnions of the Writer are fairly entitled, 
such citizen is referred to the Writer's enemies for information. Among 
these many of the most respectable will say, that his pure patriotism and 
intrepid public virtue have honoured tlie name of Republican in our 
country, and would have honoured the .best of Uie Romans i" the best 
days of Rome. 

JBostoriy March 9(h, 1808. 



IN EXCHAII8E 
FEB 1 2 1917 



A letteh, s;c. 



CITY OF IVjISHLYGTOjV, FEBRUylRY 16, ISOS. 

SIR, 

IN the even current of ordinary times, an address 
from a Senator in Con:^ress to his constituents might be dispens- 
ed with. In such times, the proceedings of the Executive and 
Legislature of the United States, exhibited in their fiublic acts, 
might be sufficient. But the present singular condition of our 
country, when its most interesting concerns, wrapt uptn mystery, 
excite universal alarm, requires me to be no longer silent. Per- 
haps I am liable to censure, at such a crisis, for not sooner pre- 
senting, to you and them, such a view of our national affairs as 
my official situation has placed in my power. I now adddress it to 
you, Sir, as the proper organ of communication to the legislature. 

The attainment of truth is ever desirable : and I cannot per- 
mit myself to doubt that the statement 1 now make must be ac- 
ceptable to all who have an agency in directing the affairs, and 
•who are guardians of the interests of our Commonwealth^ which 
so materially depend on the measures of the Government of the 
JVation. At the same time, I am aware of the jealousy with 
which, in these unhappy days of party dissensions, my commu- 
nications may, by some of my constituents, be received. Of 
this I will not complain : while I earnestly wish the same jeal- 
ousy to be extended towards all public men. Yet I may claim 
some share of attention and credit — that share which is due to 
the man who defies the world to point, in the whole course of a 
long and public life, at one instance of deception, at a single de- 
parture from TRUTH. 



4. 

The EMBARGO demands the first notice. For perhaps no act 
of the National Government has ever produced so much solicit- 
ude, or spre.id such universal alarm. Because all naturally con- 
clude, that a measure pregnant wilh incalculable nuschief to all 
classes ol" our fellow-citizens, Avould not have been proposed by 
the President, and adopted by Congress, but for causes deeply 
affectjnij; the interests and safety of the nation. It must have 
been under the inlluence of this opinion that the legislative bodies 
of some States have expressed their approbation of the Embar- 
go, eitlier explicilly, or by implication. 

The following were all the papers laid by the President before 
Congress, as the grounds of the Embargo. 

1. The proclamation of the King of Great-Britain requiring 
the return of his subjects, the seamen especially, from foreign 
countries, to aid, in this hour of peculiar danger, in the defence 
of their own. But it being an acknowledged principle, that ev- 
ery nation has a right to the service of its subjects in time of war, 
that proclamation could not furnish the slightest ground for an 

Embargo. '' ' - . 

• ■( , 

2. The extract of a letter from the Grand Judge Regnier to 
the French Attorney General for the Council of Prizes. This 
contained a partial interpretation of the imperial blockading de- 
cree of November 21, 1806. This decree, indeed, and its inter- 
pretation, present flagrant violations of our neutral rights, and 
of the existing treaty between the United States and France : 
hut still, the execution of that decree could not (from the small 
number of French cruisers) extensively interrupt our trade. 
These two papers were public. 

3. The letter from our Minister, Mr. Armstrong, to Mr. 
Champagny, the French IVIinister of Foreign Afi'airs : and 

4. Mr. Champagny 's answer. Both these ought, in form or 
substance, also to have been made public. The latter ^Yould have 
furnished to our nation some idea of the views and expectations 
of France. But both Avere withdrawn by the President, to be 
deposited among other Executive secrets : while neither present- 
ed any new ground to justify an Embargo. 

In the Senate, these papers were referred to a committee The 
committee quickly reported a liill for Lying an Embargo, agreea- 
bly to the President's proposal. This was read a first, a second, 
and a third time, and passed ; and all in the short compass of about 
four hoiirs ! A little time was repeatedly asked, to obtain further 



information, and to consider a measure of s\\cU nTomcnl, of sucli 
xiniversal concern : but these requests were denied. We verc 
hurried into the passage of tlie bill, as if there wus chinc;cr of its 
beingTejected, if we were allowed lime to obtain further infor- 
Tnation, and deliberately consider the subject. For to that lime 
our vessels were freely sailing on foreign voyages ; and in a "na- 
tional point of view, the departure of half a dozen or a dozen more, 
while we were inquiring into the necessity or expediency (»f the 
Embargo, was of little moment. Or if the danger to our vessels, 
seamen and merchandize had been so extreme as not to admit of 
one day's delay, ought not that extreme danger to have been ex- 
hibited to Congress ? The Constitution which requires the Presi- 
dent " to give to Congress information of the stalt; of the union," 
certainly meant, not /uzr/2c/ but cow/i/(76' informaliun on the sub- 
ject of a communication, so far as he possessed it. And when it 
enjoins him " to recommend to their consideration such measures 
as he should judge necessary and expedient, it as certainly inten- 
ded that those recommendations should be bottomed on itijhrma- 
tion communicated, not on facts ivitfilicld, and locked up in the Kx- 
ecutive cabinet. Had the public safety been at stal^e, or any great 
public good been prt^se- • d to our view, but which would he lost 
by a moment's de.a_, . .here would have been some apology for 
disjiatch, though none for acting iviilioiit due information. In 
truth, the measure appeared to me then, as it slill does, and as it 
appears to the public, without a sufficient motive, without a legit- 
imate object. Hence the general inquiry — " For what is the 
Embargo laid ?" And I challenge any man not in the secrets of 
the Executive to tell. I know. Sir, that the President said the pa- 
pers abovementioned " showed that great and increasing dangers 
threatened our vessels, our seamen, and our merchandize :" -but I 
also know that they exhibited wo neiv dangers ; none of which our 
iTierchants and seamen had not been well apprized. The British 
proclamation had many days before been published in the newspa- 
pers [the copy laid before us by the President had been cut out of a 
newspaper ;] and so had the substance, if not the words of Reg- 
liier's letter. Yet they had excited little concern among mer- 
chants and seamen, the preservation of whose i)ersons and proper- 
ty was the /;ro/("s.9(Y/ object of the President's recommendation of 
an Embai'go. The merchants and seamen could accurately esti- 
mate the dangers of continuing their commercial operations ; of 
which dangers, indeed, the actual premiums of insurance were a 
satisfactory guage. Those premiums had very little increased : 
by the British pioclamation not a cent : and by the French de- 
cree so little as not to stop commercial enterprizes. The great 
num.bers of vessels loading or loaded, and prepared for sea ; the 
exertions every where made, on the first rumour of the Embargo, 



to dispatch them ; demonstrate the President's dangers to he im- 
aginary — to have been asuumcd. Or if great and real dangers, 
unknown to commercial men, were impending, or sure to fall, 
how desirable was it to have had Ihtm officially declared and pub- 
lished ! This would have produced a voluntary embargo, and pre- 
vented every complaint. Besides, the dangers clearly defined and 
understood, the public mind would not have been disquieted with 
imaginary fears the more tormenting, because uncertain. 

It is true that considerable numbers of vessels were collected in 
our ports, and many held in suspense : not, however, from any 
new dangers which afificared ; but from the mysterious conduct of 
our affairs, after the attack on the Chesapeake ; and from the 
painful apprehension that the course the President was pursuing 
■would terminate in war. The National Intelligencer (usually 
considered as the Executive newspaper) gave the alarm ; and it 
was echoed through the United States. War, probable or inevi- 
table war, was the constant theme of the newspapers, and of the 
conversations, as was reported, of persons supposed to be best in- 
formed of Executive designs. Yet amid this din of war, no ade- 
quate preparations were seen making to meet it. The or er to de- 
tach a hundred lliousand militia to fight tie British navy mv there 
was no appearance of an enemy in any otiier shape) was so omplete- 
ly iibsurd, as to excite, with men of common sense, no other emo- 
tion than ridicule. Not the shadow of a reason that could operate 
on the mind of a man of common understanding can be offered 
in its justification. The refusal of the British officer to receive 
the frigate Chesapeake asa/ijVre, when tendered by her comman- 
der, is a demonstration tluit the attack upon her was exclusively 
for the purpose of taking their deserters ; and not intended as the 
commencement of a nvar bctAveen the two nations. The President 
Uhlw that the British had no invading army to land on our shores ; 
and the detat( bed militia would be useless, except against land- . 
forces. Why then was this order for the mililiu given ?— The 
nature of the cor.e, and the actual stale of things, authorize the in- 
ference, that its immediate ii not its only object, was to increase the 
public alarm, to aggravate the public resentment against Greal- 
Biituin, to exciie a war pulse; and the height of this artificial 
fevtr of the piih'ic mind, which was to be made known in Great- 
Brit;. in. to renew the demduds on her government; in the poor 
expectation of exior.ing. in that state of things, concessions of 
points which she liad always considered as her rigJm, and which 
at all times and under all circumstances, she had uniformly refused 
to relinquish. 'I'he result of tlie subsequent negocialion at Lou- 
don has shown how utterly unfounded was the President's expec- 
taiion, how perfectly useless all this l>luslcr of war. While no 
well informed man doubted that the British Government would 



make suitnble reparation for the attark on the Chesapeake. The 
Preskknt himsclfrin his procUmuilion, had placed ihe afiair on 
that lootinci;. A rupture between the two nations, said he, " is 
equcilly opposed to the interests ol" both, as it is to assurances of the 
most friendly dispositions on the part of the British C.overnnient, 
in the niidsl of which this outrage was comniiited. In t!iisli|jht 
the subject cannot but present itself to that (Government, and 
slrcni^then the motives to an honourable reparation for the wrong 
■which has been done." And it is now well known that such rep- 
aration nii^jjht have been promptly obtained in London, had the 
President's instructions to Mr. Monroe been compatible with such 
an adjustment. lie was required not to ncgociaie on this single, 
transient act (which when once adjusted was for ever settled) but 
in connection with another claim of long standing, and, to say the 
least, of doubtful right ; to wit, the exemption from impressment 
of British seamen found on board American merchant vessels. To 
remedy the evil arising from its exercise, by which our own citizens 
were sometimes impressed, the attention of our Government, under 
every administration, had been earnestly engaged : but no practica- 
ble plan has yet been contrived : while no man who regards the 
trutli, will question the disposition of the British (iovernment to a- 
dopt any arrangement that will secure to Great-Britain tiie services 
oiheroTjnaubjccts. And now, when the unexampled situation 
of that country (left alone to maintain the conflict with France and 
her numerous dependent States — left alone to withstand the 
Power which menaces the liljertics of the world) rendered the 
aid of all her sul^ects more than ever needed ; there was no 
reasonable ground to expect that she would yield the right to take 
Ihem when found on board the merchant vessels of any nation. 
Thus to insist on her yielding tliis point, and inseparably to con- 
nect it with the affair of the Clicsupcake, was tantamount to a 
determination not to negociate at all. 

I write. Sir, with freedom ; for the times arc too perilous to al- 
low those who are jjlaced in high and repunsibie situations to be 
silent or reserved. The peace and safety of our country are sus- 
pended on a thread. The course we have seen pursued leads on 
to war — to a war with Great-Britian — a war absolutely witr.out ne- 
cessity — a war which vv^hether disastrous or successful, must bring 
misery and ruin to the United Slates : imstry by ti)e destruction of 
our navigation and commerce (perhaps also of our fairest sea- 
port tov;ns and cities) the loss of markets for our ])i-oduce, the 
want of fcreign goods and manufactures, and the o'hcr evils inci- 
dent to a stale of war : and ruin, by the loss of our liheity and in- 
dependence. For if with the aid of our arms Greal-Briiain were 
subdued, — from that moment (though flaltereil perhaps wilii the. 
name oU-ililcs) v,e should 'oecoine ihe I'vovinccfi nfrrarxc. 'i'hit 



8 

is a result so obvious, that I must crave your pardon for noticing 
it. Some advocates pf Executive measures admit it. They ac- 
knowledge that the navy of Britain is our shield against the ovei'- 
■\v helming power of France. — Why then do they persist in a 
course of conduct tending to a rupture with Great-Britain ? — Will 
it be believed that it is principally, or solely, to procure inviola- 
bility to the merchant ft ag of the United Slates ? In other words, 
to protect all seamen, British subjects^ as well as our own citizens, on 
board our merchant vessels ? It is a fact that this has been made 
the greatest obstacle to an amiacablc settlement with Great-Britain. 
Yet (I repeat) it is perfectly weH known that she desires to obtain 
only her own suijects; and that American citizens, impressed by mis- 
take, are delivered up on duly authenticated proof. The evil we 
complain of arises from the iinpossibility of always distinguishing 
the persons of two nations who a few years since were one people, 
>vho exhibit the same manners, speak the same language, and 
possess similar features. But seeing that we seldom hear com- 
plaints in the great navigating States, how happens there to be 
such extreme sympathy for American seamen at Washington ? 
Especially in gentlemen, from the interiour States, which have 
no seamen, or from those Atlantic States whose native seamen, 
bear a very small proportion to those of New-England ? In fact, 
the causes of complaint are much fewer than are pretended. 
They rarely occur in the States whose seamen are chiefly natives. 
The first merchant in the United States, in answering my late en- 
quiry about British impressments, says, " Since the Chesapeake 
affair we have had no cause of complaint. I cannot find one sin- 
gle intance where they have taken one man out of a merchant ves- 
sel. I have had more than twenty vessels arrived in that time, 
without one instance of a man being taken by thern. Three 
Snvcdes were taken out by a French Frigate. I have made inquiry 
oi' all the masters that have arrived in this vicinity, and cannot 
find any complaints against tlie Biiiish cruisers." 

Can gentlemen of known ho^iii'iiy to foreiLjn commerce in our 
oTvn vessels — who are even willing to annihilate it (and such there 
are) can these gentlen*cn plead the cause of ouv seamen because 
they really wish to protect them ? Can those desire to protect 
our seamen, who, by laying an unnecessary embargo, expose 
them by thousands to starve or beg ? — One gentleman has said 
(and I believe he does not stand alone) that sooner than admit the 
principle that Great-Britain had a right to take her own subjects 
from our merchant vessels, he would abandon commerce altogeth- 
er ! — To what will every man in New-England and of the other 
navigating States, ascribe such a sentiment ? A sentiment which, 
to prevent the temporary loss of five men, by impress, would reduce 
fifty thousand to beggary ? But for the Einbargo, thousands de- 



pending on the ordinary operations of commerce, would now be 
employed. Even under the restraints of the orders of the Britisi- 
Government, retaliating the French imperial decree, very larg^ 
portions of the world remain open to tlie commerce of the United 
States. We may yet pursue our trade with the British domin- 
ions, in every part of the globe; with Africa, with China, and 
with the colonies of France, Spain, and Holland. And let me ask, 
whether in the midst of a profound peace, when the powers of 
Europe possessing colonies, would, as foniierly confine the trade 
with them to their oAvn bottoms, or admit us, as foreigners, only 
under great limitations, we could enjoy a commerce much more 
extensive than is practicable at thlsmoment, if the Embargo were 
not in the way ? Why then should it be continued ? Why rather 
was it ever laid ? Can those be legitimate reasons for the Embar- 
go which are concealed from Congress, at the moment when 
they are required to impose it ? Are the reasons to be found in 
the dispatches from Paris ? These have been moved for ; and 
the motion was quashed by the advocates for the Embargo. 
Why are these dispatches withheld by the Executive ! Why, 
%vhen all classes of citizens anxiously inquire " For v/hat is the 
Embargo laid ?" is a satisfactory answer denied? Why is not 
Congress made acquainted with the actual situation of the United 
States in relation to France ? Why, in this dangerous crisis, are 
Mr. Armstrong's letters to the Secretary of State absolutely 
withheld, so that a line of them cannot be seen ? Did they con- 
tain no information of the demands and intentions of the French 
Emperor ? Did the Revenge sail from England to France, and 
there wait three or four weeks for dispatches of no importance ? 
If so, why, regardless of the public solicitude are their contents so 
carefully concealed ? If really unimportant, what harm can arise 
froiri telling Congress and the Nation, officially^ that they contain 
nothing of moment to the safety, the liberty, the honour, or the 
interests of the United States l On the contrary, are they so 
closely locked up because they will not bear the light ? Would 
their disclosure rouse the spirit of the people, still slumbering in 
blind confidence in the Executive ? Has the French Emperor de- 
clared that he will have no neutrals ? Has he required that ow 
ports, like those of his vassal states in Europe, be .^hur against Brit- 
ish commerce? Is the Embargo a kubsliiutc a milder form of com- 
pliance with that harsh demand, whicli if exhibited in its naked 
and insulting aspect, the American spirit niip;ht yet resent ? Are 
we still to be kept profoundly ignorant of the declarations and 
avowed designs of the French Emperor, although these may 
strike at our liberty ar.d independence ? And, in the mean time, 
are we, by athous" id irritations, by clicrishing prejudices, and by 
exciting fresh resentments, to be drawn gradually into a war with 
Cireat-Briialn ? Why amidst the extreme anxiety of the public 



"^f.. 



10 

mind, is it slill kepto/i the rack of fearful expectation, by the Pre- 
ajdent's portentous silence respecting his French disp;itchcs ? — 
In this concealment there is danger. In this concealment must 
be wrapt up the real cause of the Embargo, On any other sup- 
position it is inexplicable. 

I am alarmed, Sir, at tijis perilous state of things, I cannot re- 
press my suspicions ; or forbear thus to exhibit to you the grounds 
on which they rest. The people arc advised to repose implicit 
confidence in the National Government: in that unbounded confi- 
dence lies our danger. Armed with that confidence, the Execu- 
tive may procure the adoption of measures which may overwhelm 
us with ruin, as surely as if he had an army at his heels. By 
false policy, or by inordinate fears, our country may be betrayed 
and subjugated to France, as surely as by corruption. 1 trust. 
Sir, that no one who knows me will charge it to vanity when I 
say, that I have some knowledge of public men and of public 
affairs : and on that knowledge, and with solemnity, I declare to 
you, that I have no confidence in the wisdom or correctness of 
our public measui'es : that our country is in iinniinent danger : 
that it is essential to to the public safety that the blind confidence 
in our Rulers should cease ; that the State Legislatures should 
know the facts and reasons on which important general laws are 
founded ; and csfiecially tliat those States nvhosc farms are on the 
vcran, and whoss harvests ere gathered in every sea, should initne- 
diati'ly and seriously consider hoiv to fircserve them. In all tlic 
branches of Government, commercial information is wanting ; 
and in " this desert," called a city, that want cannot be supplied. 
Nothing but the sense of the commercial States, cleurly and em- 
phatically expressed, will save them from ruin. 

Are our thousands of ships and vessels to rot in our harbours? 
Are our sixty thousand seamen and fishermen to be ci'eprived of 
employment, and, with their families, reduced to want and beg- 
gary ? Are our hundreds of thousands of farmers to be compel- 
led to suffer their millions in surplus produce to perish on their 
hands ; that the President may make an experiment on our pa- 
tience and fortitude, and on the towering pride, the boundless 
ambition, and unyielding perseverance of the Conqueror of Eu- 
rope I Sir, I have reason to believe that the President contem- 
plates the continuance of the Embargo until the French Empe- 
ror repeals his decrees violating as well his treaty with the United 
States as every neutral righ". ; and until Britain thereupon recals 
her retaliating orders I — By that time we may have neither ships 
nor seamen : and that is precisely the point to which some men 
wish to reduce us. — To see the i?n/irovidence of this project (to 
call it by no harsher name, and wilhout adverting to uUcrior 
viov.-s) let us look back to former veai s. 



11 

Notwithstanding the well-founded complaints of some individ- 
nals, and the murmurs of others ; notwithstanding the frequent 
Executive declarations of maritime aggressions conmiitted by 
Great-Britain ; notwithstanding tlie outrageous decrees of Trance 
and Spain, and the wanton spoliations practised and executed by 
their cruisers and tribunals, of which we sonjetimes hear a faint 
•whisper; — the commerce of the United States has liitherto pros- 
pered beyond all example. Our citizens have accuntulated 
wealth ; and the public revenue, annually increasing, has been 
the President's annual boast. 

These facts demonstrate, that although Great-Britain, with her 
thousand ships of war, could have destroyed our commerce, she 
has really done it no essential injury ; and that the other belliger- 
ents heretofore restrained by some regard to National Law, and 
limited by the small number of their cruises, have not inflicted 
upon it any deep wound. Yet in this full tide of success, our 
commerce is suddenly arrested ; an alarm of war is raised : fear- 
ful apprehensions are excited : the merchants in particular, thrown 
into a state of consternation, are advised, by a voluntary embar- 
go, to keep their vessels at home. And what is the cause of 
this mighty but mischievous alarm ? We know it in its whole ex- 
tent. It tvas tlie unaiithorizai at!ack of a British naval officer on 
the American frigate C7iesa/icake, to search for and take some de- 
serters knoivn to have bten received on board ivho had been often 
demanded^ and as often re/used to be delivered v/i. As was ex- 
pected by all considerate men, and by the President himself (as 
I have before observed) the British Government, on the first in- 
formation of the unfortunate event (and without waiting for an 
application) disavowed the act of its officer — disclaimed the prin- 
ciple of searching National arir.ed vessels — and declared its read- 
iness to make suitable reparation, as soon as the state of the case 
should be fully known. 

Under such circumstances, who can justify this alarm of war ? 
An alarm which greatly disquieted the public mind, and occa- 
sioned an interruption of commerce extremely injmious to our 
merchants and sea-faring citizens. 

I will close this long letter by stating all the existing pretences 
— for there are no causes — for a war with Great-Britain. 

1 . The British ships of war, agreeably to a right claimed and ex- 
ercised for ages — a right claimed and exercised during the whole of 
the administialions of Washington, of Adams, and of Jefferson — 
continue to take some of the British seamen found on board our 
merchant vessels, and wi'.ii them a small iniinbLf of ours, from 



12 

ti>e impossibility of always disiint^uishing Enj^lishmcn from cit- 
izens of the United States. On this point our Government well 
"know that Great-Britain is perfectly willing to adopt any arrange- 
ment that can be devised, which will secure to her service the sea- 
iiimivho are her orjn subjects ; and at the same lime exempt om's 
from impiHJSsment. 

2. The merchant vessels of France, Spain and Holland, being 
driven from the ocean, or destroyed, the commerce of those coun- 
tries with one another, and with their colonies, could no longer be 
carried on by themselves. Here the vessels of neutral nations 
came in to their aid, and carried on nearly the whole commerce 
of those nations. With their seamen tluis liberated from the 
merchant service, those nations, in the present and preceding 
wars, were enabled to man their ships of war ; and the neutral 
vessels and seamen supplying their places, became in/act^ though 
not in name, ni/.riliaries iri ivar. The commerce of those nations, 
without one armed ship on the sea appropriated for its protection, 
was intended thus to be secured under neutral flags ; while ihemer- 
chant vessels of Great-Britain, with its numerous avmed ships to 
guard them, were ex])osed to occasional captures. — Such a course 
of things Great-Britain has resisted, not in the present only, but 
in former wars ; at leL^.st as far back as that of 1756. And she 
has claimed and maiiuained a right to impose on this commerce 
some limits and restraints ; because it Avas a commerce which 
•was denied by those nations to neutrals in times of peace ; because 
it was a commerce of immense value to the subjects of her ene- 
mies ; and because it filled their treasuries with money to enable 
them to carry on their wars with Great-Britain. 

3. The third and only remaining pretence for war with Great- 
Britain, is the unfortunate aflair of the Chesapeake ; which hav- 
ing been already stated and explained, I will only remark here, 
that^t is not to be believed tliut the British Government, after being 
defeated, as before mentioned, in its eraleavours to make reparation 
in London, for the wrong done by its servant, would have sent 
hither'a special envoy to give honourable satisfaction, but from its 
sincere desire to close this wound, if our own Government would 
iuffer it 4o^ be healed. 

Permit inc now to ask, what man, impartially viewing the sub- 
iect, will have the boldness to say that there exists any cause for 
plunging the United States into a war with Great-Britain ? Who 
vhat respects his reputation as a man of common discernment 
will say it? Who that regards the interests and welfare of his 
country will say it ? Who then can justify, who can find an ex- 
ruse for a course of conduct which has brought our country into 



13 

its present state of alarm, embarrassment and distress ? For my- 
self, Sir, I must declare the opinion, that no free country Avas 
ever before so causelessly, and so blindly, thro\Yn from the height 
of prosperity, and plunged into a state of dreadful anxiety ;m(l 
sufl'ering. But from this degraded and -wretched sitiialion it is 
not yet too late to escape. Let the dispatches from our Minister 
in France be no longer concealed. Let the President perform 
the duty required of him by the Constitution ; by giving to Con- 
gress full information of the state of the union in respect to for- 
eign nations. Above all^ let him mfold our actual situation ivith 
France. Let him tell us what are the demands and proposals of 
her Ruler. Had these been honourable to the United States, 
would not the President have been eager to disclose them ? that 
they are of an entirely different nature, that they are dishonoura- 
ble that they are ruinous to our commercial interests, and danger- 
ous to our liberty and indefie7idence, we are left to infer. 

I hope. Sir, that the nature and magnitude of the subject vil! 
furnish a sufficient apology for the length and style of this letter. 
Perhaps some may deem it presumptuous thus to question the 
correctness of the proceedings of our (Government. A strong 
sense of duty, and distressing apprehensions of National ruin, 
have forced the task upon me. To some the sentiments which, 
in the sincerity of my lieart, I have expressed, may give olYence : 
for often nothing ofi'ends so much as truth. Yet I do not desire 
to offend any man. But when 1 see the dangerous extent of Ex- 
ecutive influence ; when I see the Great Council of the Nation 
called on to enact laws deeply affecting the interests of all classes 
of citizens, without adequate information of the reasons of that 
call : when I observe the deceptive glosses with which the mis- 
chiefs of the Embargo are attempted to be palhated ; and ftosterior 
extents adduced as reasons to justify the measure : when I know 
that the risks of continuing their commercial pursuits against all 
known dangers can and will be more accurately calculated by our 
merchants than by our Government ; when if any nevi dangers to 
commerce were impending, of which our merchants were unin- 
formed, but of which the Govcrnmeryt obtained the knowTedge 
ihrougli its Minister at Paris, or elsewhere, it was plainly tho 
duty of the Executive to make those dangers known to Congress 
and the Nation : and since if so made known, the merchants and 
sea-faring citizens Avould, for their own interests and safety, have; 
taken due precautions to gaurd against them : and as it hence 
appears certain that an Embargo was not necessary to the safety 
of" our seamen, our vessels, or our merchandize :" — when. Sir, I 
see and consider these things, and their evil tendency : in a 
word, when I observe a course of proceeding which to me ap- 
pears calculated to mislead the public mind to public ruin ; I 



14 

cannot be silent. Regardless, therefore, of personal consequences, 
I have undertaken to communicate these details : with the view- 
to dissipate dangerous illusions ; togive to my Constitutents cor- 
rect information : to excite enquiry ; and to rouse that vigilant 
jealousy which is characteristic of REPUBLICANS, and es- 
sential to the preservation of their rights, their liberties, and their 
independence. 

I have the honour to be, 

very respectfully, 

Sir, 

Your obedient Servant, 

TIMOTHY PICKERING. 

Hia Excellency JAMES SULLIVJJ^, 

Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. 



OFFICIAL. 



Boston, 2d of diarchy 1808. 

SIR, 

I YESTERDAY received your Letter, consisting of six 
ihects, dated the 7th ultimo. My pressing calls in public con- 
cerns would not allow mc to attempt to read it until late lust 
evening. — Before I had gone through the first page, I was sur- 
prised by your novel and extraordinary claim, upon me, as Gov- 
ernour of the Commonwealth, expressed in these words — '' I now 
address it (meaning your letter) to your, Sir, as the proper organ 
of communication." Had this been a request to have commu- 
nicated your Letter to the Legislature of this Commonwealth, as 
a favour to you, I should have continued to read until from its 
contents I became satisfied, whether I ought, or ought not to grant 
it ; but on finding it to be a new and unexpected claim upon my 
official duty, I folded the Letter instantly in order to rellect up- 
on fiVsJprinciples : — I have not unfolded it since, and now re- 
turn it to you by the mail. 

You will recollect that the Senate and House of Representa- 
tives of this Commonwealth, are visible, organic bodies ; that the 
former has a President, and the latter a Speaker ; that both have 
Clerks. You will also recollect that there is a Secretary chosen 
by the two Houses ; that whatever is proper to be communicated 
to them, by you, may be communicated through one, or th.c other 
of these ; but that the Governour of the Commonwealth is obli- 
ged, e.r officio, to communicate as Governour, to the Legislature, 
whatever a member of Congress shall please to address to liim 



16 

for that pui-pose, cannot be submitted to by me until I find it to be 
made my duty by the Constitution of the Commonweahh. — ^You 
seem to found your claim in your being a Senator of this State : 
I can discern no distinction in this respect, between members of 
the Senate, and members of the House : all are Representatives 
of the State, and all must have equal claims. 

I am, Sir, 

Your very humble servant, 

JAMES SULLIVAN. 

Hon. Timothy Pickering, Esq.."1 
A Senator from Massachusetts^ in > 
the Congress of the Uriited States, j 



This is a copy of a letter, which I compared with the original, and 
■which enclosed six sheets of paper, being a letter from Timothy Picker- 
ing, Esq. to the Govemour, and which six sheets being inclosed in the 
original letter afwesaid, dii'ected to said Pickering, I put into the post* 
«ffic«, 

WM. DONNISON- 



